FROM

At the heart of this story is a very real, growing problem. Cities around
the country are considering permitting the slaughter of sentient beings in
backyards. They are considering allowing the raising of "livestock" in
heavily populated, urbanized areas. And they are doing it with zero
consideration of the animals themselves.

We have a board in our
office with a log of animals needing homes, requests from the public to
rehome unwanted farm animals. It used to be the list for the month would
fill 1/2 of the white board.

Now we need twice the space to keep up. The majority of them are about
roosters, victims of the backyard chicken movement.

Two weeks ago, we received a disturbing phone call. A man had found four
of his roommates roosters in the garbage. Two of them were still alive. The
woman had bought day-old chicks from a hatchery, four ended up roosters.
When neighbors complained, instead of contacting the animal shelter or
trying to find a home for them, the woman tried to break the animals' necks.
She failed on two of them.

We rarely take roosters. Last year we rescued 140 chickens from a hoarder
and 70 were roosters. It took a year to place the healthy ones. The rest
remained with us, putting our rooster count in the double digits. Balancing
the desire to help as many animals as possible with the welfare of our
current chicken population is tricky, but it does mean we cannot take in
even a small percentage of the roosters we get calls about. This month, we
were asked to take in 25 unwanted roosters, almost all of whom were bought
from hatcheries and incorrectly sexed.

But we said yes to these two roosters. Despite that, our calls were never
returned and the fate of these roosters is unknown. The man refused to give
any personal information - he refused to contact animal control or the
police. Even if he had, even if there was incontrovertible proof of this
woman's crime, very few prosecutors would choose to charge someone who
inadequately slaughtered four roosters. Our hearts ache for these birds -
they deserve so much better.

At the heart of this story is a very real, growing problem. Cities around
the country are considering permitting the slaughter of sentient beings in
backyards. They are considering allowing the raising of "livestock" in
heavily populated, urbanized areas. And they are doing it with zero
consideration of the animals themselves.

Caring for farm animals is no easy task, despite what "homesteaders" want
you to believe. All species of farmed animals require specialized care,
appropriate feed, medical/veterinary care, proper housing, and appropriate
space to keep them healthy and happy. Anyone with a dog knows they need more
than just a bowl of food and water a day to thrive. A pig's ability to enjoy
life is no different than a cat's. A chicken's ability to emote is no
different than a dog's. In an already cruel world, it seems society should
focus on compassionate choices, ones that nurture joy and kindness.

Backyard slaughter does none of that. It does not "connect" anyone to
"food" anymore than a pre-packaged slab of animal carcass does. It does not
emulate the real conditions of farm animals in this industrial world. And it
completely dismisses that when we are given a choice to cause less harm, we
shouldn't bring out the knife. Killing a sentient, feeling being simply to
"experience" the act of killing or to be "closer" to one's "food" source is
outlandish and ludicrous. Especially in a country where most of us (and
nearly all of the people who seem heck bent on wanting to kill animals) can
either a) grow fresh organic produce or b) purchase fresh organic produce
that is cheaper than raising an animal for slaughter.

If you live in the United States, chances are you have better access to
healthy food than other regions of the world. If you are already living in
an urban area, you have better access to healthy food than areas that are
more rural. If you are living in a middle-class or wealthier region, you
have access to healthful foods more so than impoverished areas. You enjoy a
privilege not everyone does. To sully that by spilling blood is offensive
and ignores that wonderful access to fresh, organic produce and grains and
legumes that can easily supplant animal products.

And if you don't have easy access to healthy foods, contact organizations
like the Food Empowerment Project to start changing that. We need more fresh
foods that are sustainable and healthy, and that don't - by necessity -
require the unnecessary taking of a life.

If you don't want to see blood in your neighbor's backyard, speak up and
out for yourself and the animals. Write to your elected officials and attend
city council meetings. Write letters to the editors of your local paper.

We already live in a country that slaughters 10,000,000,000 land animals
each year. Let's not add to that cruelty by allowing more.

Fair Use Notice: This document, and others on our web site, may contain copyrighted
material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners.
We believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use
of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law).
If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use,
you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.